Frisch in Salt Lake City, Utah -- The Newest Vegan Place in Town

Last Saturday Ben and I were in SLC all day for an English teaching class (we are in training to become English teachers at a local English Skills center) and needed lunch. Lucky, Frisch has just opened the day before and it was the perfect excuse to drop by! I've been following Frisch and its owner, Rachel Kade, ever since they started requesting funding on Facebook just a few months ago. Rachel and I became friends on Facebook and I've watched the cafe go from an idea to a reality (on Facebook, of course, don't get too nostalgic). Anyway, it was kind of surreal actually being there after having seen pictures of pieces of furniture and art be collected and created.

The day we were there was only their second day in business, so their menu was limited. However, starting yesterday (june 26) their full menu is available. I was pretty excited about everything on there. Ben and I each got a wrap and their salad tasting plate (an awesome idea when you're just opening up).

First, the Spicy Chick'n wrap (above). The Spicy Chick'n wrap consists of vegenaise, spinach, bell peppers, and soy curls. Yes, soy curls! I honestly don't know of many places that cook or carry these around where we live, so it was pretty exciting to bite into! I forgot how satisfying they can be--good choice, Frisch. I also loved the Rico brand whole wheat (yeah! healthy!) tortilla, which I had never had before but was almost like a pita and very tasty. My only complaint about this wrap is that it wasn't really spicy at all. Honestly I forgot that we had gotten a spicy wrap until Ben asked me how spicy it was. It was more like a pretty basic chick'n and veggie wrap. Rachel had noted that I might want some hot sauce, and next time I'm definitely going to take her up on that.

Next, the Sesame Chick'n wrap! I really liked this one. Vegenaise, bell peppers, cucumber, leafy greens, carrots, and ginger-sesame-marinated soy curls. Good flavor on the soy curls and I loved the fresh veggies (and the wrap, of course!). Only complaint here, again, is the lack of kick. I wish it was a bit more gingery, salty, or spicy.

Last, the salad trio. We got the technicolor tempeh kale salad, quiona black bean salad, and curried tofu. It came on a bed of mixed greens and was a great portion size for the price. My favorite was the tempeh and kale salad and Ben's was the curried tofu. The quiona was a bit too bland for both of us. Though, after tasting the whole menu, I think that the general lack of strong flavors is on purpose. I have been around people who cook in a similar way before--they don't use much spice but try to bring out the flavors of the food. Generally I like it though it's different than the way I cook. But sometimes I want a bit more oomph.

Besides the food, the deco is cute and colorful. The bathroom was clean and nice (a big plus in my book) and the atmosphere was friendly and easygoing.

Here's a picture of the menu they're hoping to have this week.

In the end, I would definitely go to Frisch again. They fill a sort of niche that Salt Lake doesn't currently have--the mid price range, healthy, filling, and easygoing restaurant. I love having options when I go out and I've kind of been hoping for a place like this. Though I haven't tasted their whole menu, I feel confident giving Frisch a 4/5. I'm excited to see what else they produce, and to try their desserts!

Vegan Backpacking Meals 2: Granola, AlpineAire Foods Mountain Chili, and Backpacker's Pantry Pad Thai

On our backpacking trip last weekend, Ben and I got to try out some new backpacking meals.

First, for breakfast, we had granola with powdered soy milk mixed up in a Nalgene with water. While shopping for backpacking meals, we had seen granola with milk freeze dried meals and after looking at the ingredients realized they were basically granola, freeze dried fruit, and milk powder. We were like... duh, we can do that for cheaper. So we bought two servings worth of blueberry granola from Good Earth that had freeze dried blue berries and then some powdered soy milk. In the morning we shook up some powdered milk with water in a Nalgene and then poured it over the granola. Voila! Breakfast! Super tasty, cheap, and light weight too.

For dinner, we split two backpacking meals. First, AlpineAire Foods freeze dried Mountain Chili. It was AWESOME. I was pretty surprised that a chili was vegan, but it turns out the 'meat' is tvp and the rest of the ingredients are all veggies! Pretty cool. The flavors on this meal were awesome. I was worried it was going to be really bland since it was 'lower sodium,' but honestly it was the most well-flavored backpacking meal I have come across so far. AlpineAire Foods definitely knows their spices! Plus it was super filling, had a lot of protein, and had no added fat! All big plusses. Purchased at our local REI.

Next, Backpacker's Pantry Pad Thai. So far we've been pretty happy with everything we've purchased from Backpacker's Pantry and their ingredients are usually pretty healthy. I was super excited when Ben opened the package to find a packet of roasted peanuts and a packet of Justin's peanut butter! You mix the peanut butter in with the noodles before adding the hot water (then you let it all rehydrate after sealing the package, pretty much how all these meals work) so it blends with the other spices to make a classic pad thai sauce. Then you top it with the roasted peanuts and.... gourmet food! Pretty amazing, honestly. This meal was also very filling and high in protein, both big plusses. The only things I didn't like about it were the few funky ingredients (i.e: lime 'flavor' and lots and lots of maltodextrin) AND the white rice noodles--not the healthiest thing. BUT after a day of hiking I think this meal is probably fine. Very very tasty, light weight, and easy to make.

TIP! Check out all of the posts in my Vegan Backpacking Meals series here.

Backpacking to Grove Creek Spring

Last weekend, Ben and I did our first overnight backpacking trip to Grove Creek Spring. It was so nice and our camping spot was to die for (see picture on the right, we were the only ones up there). The hike to Grove Creek Spring is 3.4 miles each way with a 2,000 foot elevation climb. It may not sound tough for you experienced backpackers, but for us it was strenuous. Well, with our packs at least. Normally a hike like that wouldn't have been a big deal to go up and back in a few hours, but with the packs strapped to our backs and not being used to the extra weight it was pretty tough.

My pack ended up being 28 lbs and Ben's was 35. I know this might sound heavy for an overnighter, but when you think about it you still have to take all the same gear that you would take for a 5-7 day-er. Tent, footprint, fly, stove, fuel, cookware, sleeping bags, pads, etc. I do think that we packed a little heavy on the food and clothes, though... but that's something well have to figure out. Blog post about what we ate here, link to all posts in my vegan backpacking meals series here.

As some of you may know, we've been collecting gear since around January and just last week finally had everything we needed to do an overnighter. It's been a pretty expensive process and there's just so much to think about. Ben and I estimated that everything we were carrying and wearing probably cost around $2,500. HOWEVER we didn't skimp on anything. We got the $450 tent rather than the $300 one... we got the $200 ground pads rather than the $70 ones. And I love every single bit of it. Our ground pads are amazing and seriously feel like sleeping on air mattresses. Our tent is fabulous and weighs under 5 lbs. The thing about the more expensive gear is you end up paying for lighter weight and quality, so I'm really happy with everything we got.  Speaking of gear... here are some pics of the stuff we tried out for the first time on this trip:

Optimus Crux Stove and GSI Outdoors Pinnacle Dualist Ultralight Cookset

Cookset bowl and spoon

MSR MiniWorks EX Microfilter with ceramic element

Anyway, enough about the STUFF. We had a blast and loved being alone together (with Molly) for two whole days. Speaking of Molly! She did amazing. She slept right through the night and was a trooper the whole hike up. On the way down she started getting tired and hot, but honestly so was I so I think that's understandable. She loved hanging around camp at night and explored all around the camp site. Once we settled down by the fire to read she curled up by a warm rock on the edge and just slept. Below is a slideshow of pictures of the hike, some portraits of us (I really like the ones I did of Ben), and plenty of pictures of Molly!

Sub Zero's Vegan Ice Cream in Pleasant Grove, Utah

On our way home from work a couple days ago, Ben and I decided to stop by Sub Zero to try out their vegan ice cream. They have ice cream made from both soy and rice milk and some vegan toppings and mix-ins. The first thing that turned me off from them was when we asked the cashier which flavors were vegan. She had no idea what we were talking about so I asked her which flavors didn't have dairy and she seemed shaky about that as well. She said that she had seen people who were lactose intolerant get certain flavors, so we just went for it. When we asked her about the mix-ins, it was the same. I tried checking their website and they didn't have any ingredients or nutritional facts.

I ended up going for the rice milk cherry flavor with dark chocolate chunks and maraschino cherries and Ben got the rice milk mocha flavor with dark chocolate chunks. When I got mine I was pretty disappointed. The cherry flavor was on the verge of being cough syrup flavored and the ice cream wasn't creamy at all. Ben's was just as bad and the mocha flavor was super watery and gross. I ended up only eating a couple of bites of mine before the sugar and chocolate (which I had been craving) wasn't worth it.

I was hoping that the soy would be a bit creamier, but after talking to my work buddy he said that even their dairy ice cream isn't any good :( So, honestly, I wouldn't waste your money. Ben and I did have fun playing their arcade machines while we were waiting for our ice cream, but having to pay $9 for two bowls of ice cream that weren't even worth finishing isn't good enough of a reason for me to go back there. In the end, I would have to give it a 2/5. If you REALLY had an ice cream craving and somehow couldn't get ice cream any other way (idk...?) it might be worth it. However, I'd like to look more into which of their flavors and mix-ins are actually vegan.

The Pie Pizzeria in West Jordan, Utah

Ben and I have had plain vegan cheese pizza from The Pie Pizzeria at a party, but haven't actually gone in and ordered a pizza and bread sticks since they started offering vegan cheese. So when we got home from an overnight backpacking trip last Sunday (post on this to come) tired and hungry we just wanted some greasy, calorie-laden food that we didn't have to drive too far to get. We found of the Pie in West Jordan was open on Sundays (about 20 m from our house) and decided to drive up there to get some food.

We ended up getting an order of vegan cheese bread and a much-too-large pizza with vegan cheese and veggies galore. It was all so filling that I only ended up eating two pieces of cheese bread and a slice of pizza. Ben ate quite a bit more but we had enough food for lunch for the following two days! I was honestly amazed at the price--for everything we got (I didn't skimp on pizza toppings either) it was only $35! If we had gone to Este we would have paid that much for a pizza that we would have eaten in one sitting. Besides the price, the food was awesome! The cheese bread was super tasty and I loved the abundant garlic powder on the top and the marinara dipping sauce. The pizza crust was pillowy and cooked to perfection, and the veggies were delicious and plentiful.

I definitely think the Pie deserves a 4/5 for having great vegan pizza options as well as additional options like cheese bread, calzones, and salads. You can even get a vegan slice of pizza! Oh, and they have a vegan ground 'beef' you can put on your pizza too. The only reason I'm not giving them a 5 is because they don't have any vegan dessert :(

Our First Attempt at Gnocchi (recipe)

Ben and I had never made gnocchi before yesterday. I had always wanted to try it but never really planned it into our weekly meals. Then two days ago I was picking up ingredients for lasagna and thought "hey, why not?" So I grabbed a box of mini gnocchi and a tomato. I actually didn't follow a recipe but just kind of went with what I had with the fridge and thought of the recipes I had seen for it before. It turned out to be AMAZING. Like, seriously amazing. I ate way too much of it and swore to Ben that we weren't allowed to make food that good again lest I get really fat. It was lovely with some broiled garlic broccoli and, even though it didn't need it, I ended up putting some spaghetti sauce on it near the end--just because I love spaghetti sauce.

1 pkg Gnocchi
1 Tomato, minced
1/4 C Pine nutes
4 cloves Garlic, sliced thinly
1/3 C Basil, minced
2 Tbs Italian seasoning, or to taste
2 tsp Salt, or to taste
2 tsp Black pepper, or to taste

Cook the gnocchi according to the package directions. After straining, set aside.

Toast pine nuts until they are brown. Set aside.

In a large skillet, heat some olive oil. Add garlic, basil, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Sauté for 3-5 minutes and then add the gnocchi. The gnocchi will stick to the bottom a bit, but mix it every minute or so until the gnocchi gets a bit toasty around the edges. Add the tomato to the pan and sauté for another 1-2 minutes or until the tomato begins to soften. Mix in the pine nuts and serve.

Arches National Park

Last week Ben's childhood friend from Seattle came to visit. One of the things we did while he was here is camp in Arches National Park. We brought our new camera and got some awesome shots, but editing them (Ben has been shooting in raw) has taken me FOREVER. Technically this post should have been before my last post about my haircut and other recent happenings... but oh well. Anyway, enjoy!

Recent Events and Eats

Here's some pictures of what we've been up to recently... we also went on a trip to Arches National Park, but I'm still editing the photos so you'll have to wait just a little bit longer!

First... a veganized Big Mac! Ben has been craving fast food lately and since we really have nothing by the way of indulgent burgers and fries around here, we had to improvise! It was actually super easy--Amy's quarter pounders, cheddar Tease, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, minced onions, homemade thousand island, and some white buns we found at our local grocery store.

Next... for Labor day we went to my family's lodge in the mountains with some friends. I told some pretty amazing stories, as shown below in a picture Ben snapped of me, an went on some nice hikes.

We have, of course, been hanging out with our pets in bed a lot lately. It's been spring-y here and that means rain and strange bouts of weather. One day it's hailing and raining and the next day its 90 degrees. Typical Utah.

I also attended my 5-year high school reunion last week and hung out with some old friends afterward. It was awesome to see them and I was amazed at how much we still had in common.

Oh, and I made a tasty discovery. Ben and I always have those mini nori sheet and scoop up rice in them. I also love eating avocados with salt and pepper on them--and I finally combined the two! It wasn't really like sushi because the nori sheets we have are really crispy and more like bendy chips... but it was delicious.

And the most exciting thing... I got a hair cut! I finally took the jump and got bangs for the first time in years. The cut is a lot more work and I have to buy a blow dryer for my bangs and product to tame my curly mane (not so flattering when there's no weight from long hair to hold it down), but I really like it.

Before...

...after!

A Night in Salt Lake City and a Drag Show

Last week, Ben's childhood friend from Seattle came to visit. On his first night here, we headed to Squatters for dinner and then to Club Elevate for Miss City Weekly's Drag Pageant, the official kick-off party for the Utah Pride Festival. It was my first drag show and I absolutely loved it!